“To promote the art of fly tying, through the exchange of ideas, information and practical experience”

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Cabin Fever

The first snowfall in Chicago triggers my cabin fever to begin scouting for new fly fishing locations and tying flies for next season. One of my favorite tools I use for scouting new locations is Google Earth. It allows me to zoom down and actually see the water I want to fish, parking, access trails and directions. I can save each location, enter notes, print out directions, print aerial images and email them to friends or my blackberry. To begin, make sure you have the following checked in the sidebar section on left under Layers; "Borders & Labels", "Roads" and "Street Views". You can measure the walking or wading distance from one point to another in "Tools" by using the "Ruler". To see how long a pond or lake has existed - go to "Tools" section, select "View" and check "Historical Imaginary". If you slide the history bar all the way to the left and the pond/lake is still there, there is a good chance it has mature fish. To mark an area where you have caught fish, click on the yellow pin on tool bar. It's a great tool and can save you valuable time.

I get ideas for flies to tie by ordering or viewing online fly fishing catalogs from Orvis, Feather-Craft, The Fly Shop, Bass Pro, Cabela's, etc. They have colored pictures of each fly, grouped by type (wet, dry, nymph, streamer, etc.) or the species of fish and the flies that are used to catch them.

After I have selected the flies I want to tie from the catalog or online viewing, I will search for a tying video for each fly on Google, You Tube, or Vimeo, just to name a few. I will watch the video on a laptop and tie along.

If I am traveling outside of Illinois on a fly fishing trip and want to know the flies used on a certain river or stream, I will Google search for a fly shop in that area. Example, Au Sable River Grayling Michigan Fly Shops brought up Bob Linsenman's Au Sable Angler, Streamside, etc. You can visit their fishing reports too.

I don't know about you, but I cannot stand cabin fever. I hope this information helps you get through the winter and improve your fishing adventures.